Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has reacted to the proposed move by Formula 1 and the FIA to oblige multiple pit stops at the Monaco Grand Prix to improve the race’s show.
The Monte Carlo showpiece often faces criticism for producing dull and stale racing, with F1 cars widely considered to be too big for the narrow streets of the Principality today. Instead, qualifying is frequently the star of the show at any Monaco Grand Prix, rather than the race.
But the Monaco GP will not drop off the Formula 1 calendar any time soon. The race and F1 agreed to a new contract in November 2024 which keeps the round on the schedule until at least 2031, much to the delight of Leclerc with the Monaco GP the Ferrari pilot’s home race.
F1 proposing multiple pit stops at the Monaco Grand Prix excites Charles Leclerc
Despite the race’s latest contract extension, F1 and the FIA are working on potential changes to improve the Monaco GP. The latest proposal to come out of the week’s FIA Commission is to oblige multiple pit stops to mix up strategies with the Monaco GP usually a one-stop race.
Conversations remain ongoing to flesh out the proposal, including settling on how many pit stops F1 and the FIA will enforce during a Monaco GP and how to enforce the rule change if included. But just discussing enforcing multiple pit stops for the Monaco GP excites Leclerc.
READ MORE: Seven unforgettable Monaco GP moments including Senna vs Mansell and Schumacher’s controversy
“I think it will definitely help the Sunday, especially with strategy,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “The excitement on Sunday is maybe a bit less than what you will hope. The Saturday is incredible but the Sunday maybe needed a little bit of spice and hopefully this will give it.”
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo know how pit stops can cost drivers the Monaco Grand Prix win
Leclerc won the 2024 Monaco GP to finally shake the monkey off the 27-year-old’s back. Yet the top 10 finishers did not change position over 78 laps, as the drivers changed tyres under a red flag caused by Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen’s first-lap crash in the Monaco GP.
With the streets of the Principality kind to the Pirelli rubber, drivers do not stress their tyres and could do the rest of the race without another pit stop after the early stoppage. But F1’s proposed move to enforce multiple pit stops may have mixed up the result in the 2024 race.
READ MORE: The most successful drivers at the Formula 1 Monaco GP of all time
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo know all too well how pit stops can ruin a Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton failed to win the 2015 Monaco GP after Mercedes called the race leader in under a safety car fearing Ferrari would stop Sebastian Vettel, who stayed out.
Bottas’ Monaco GP also ended in the pits in 2021 after Mercedes had a ‘catastrophic failure’ which ensured the wheel nut could not come off his front-right tyre and the Finn was forced to retire. A botched pit stop by Red Bull also cost Ricciardo the win at the 2016 Monaco GP.
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